Crisis in Japan

Believed to be the
closest American
citizen to the
epicenter of the
earthquake, Jake
Derector '09 reflects
on his partnership with
the people of Japan

by Melissa Sue Sorrells Galley '05

JAKE DERECTOR '09 - PHOTO BY ANDREW MARKHAM '10

Immediately following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that
rocked the island nation of Japan on March 11, 2011, Hobart and
William Smith students, faculty, staff and alums sprang into action.
Within hours, several fundraisers were organized on campus to support
the American Red Cross. CBS Reporter and HWS Trustee Bill Whitaker
'73, L.H.D. '97 was on the ground in Sendai, covering the disaster for
CBS Evening News. Dr. Robert Peter Gale '66, L.H.D. '87 who coordinated
medical relief efforts for victims of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
Accident in 1986, flew to Japan to help the government there manage its
response to radiation leaks at Fukushima Daiichi and other plants.

And in the days following the disaster, HWS received word from our
many community members who live in Japan as messages of hope and
concern were relayed across the Pacific. Early in the morning on March
15, Hobart and William Smith administrators received a chilling e-mail
from Susan and Richard Derector P'09, parents of Jake Derector '09:

[Jake] was shopping at a small convenience store in his village when the earthquake hit. He said the cash register just barely missed hitting him! This store was in the harbor area and at sea level. After the large earthquake ended, he went outside and looked at the sea and saw a huge black wall of water approaching. He helped the woman who owned the store to safety and then he drove his car quickly up to his apartment (which is at a high elevation) and then made his way on foot to very high ground (he followed the deer!) above his home. He watched while his village was obliterated by a 30 ft. tsunami. It has ceased to exist.

Based in Ayukawahama at the time of the
quake, Derector is believed to be the closest
American citizen to the epicenter of the
disaster. "I could see the white crest coming
toward us, and I watched the town move down
the road on the water," he says. "Everything just
washed away."

"It was absolutely terrifying," he says. "It
put my everyday life into sharp perspective. I
was buying Old Spice body wash. And in the
blink of an eye, more than 80 percent of my
city was wiped off the map."

Even as he watched the
village float away, Derector's
thoughts were focused on
the children he had spent the
past several months teaching.
An English teacher at several
schools in the rural and
isolated fishing village, he had
taken the day off. "I had no
idea if my students were okay
or if they were even alive,"
he says. "It was extremely
difficult."

Many of the fundraising efforts organized by members of
the Colleges and Geneva communities following the
disasters in Japan have been in support of Asahi, Japan,
the hometown of Kyoko Klaus, Tanaka Lecturer in Asian
Languages and Cultures at HWS. In mid-April, Klaus
organized a Skype videoconference between members of
the Geneva and Asahi communities, including the Asahi
mayor. The men and women from Asahi thanked the
gathered students, faculty and staff, and reported on the
situation in Japan. Several weeks later, they sent photos
of the residents in their shelters, including the above
photo as well as photos of the displaced residents reading
copies of the Herald. "We are working hard toward
restoration and reconstruction," said Asahi Mayor Tadanao
Akechi. "We would like to thank you for your kind
heartedness."

In the hours after the quake, Derector
assisted several senior citizens, helping them
make it to a safe community center and
procuring blankets and food. "One woman was
so old and frail that I had to give her a piggy
back ride to safety because she couldn't walk.
But, somehow, she'd climbed up a slope to get
away from the water," he says. "The people of
Ayukawahama are amazing."

On March 12, Derector was able to make
his way to one of his schools, walking through
the rubble. He was overjoyed to find all of the
teachers and students there, alive and well.
"I was so happy to see them," he says. His
students, though, immediately began teasing
him about wearing jeans to school. "I was like,
'are you kidding me? I just crawled through
rubble to get here, and you're asking about my
clothes?' But that's kids."

Over the next several days, Derector and
his fellow teachers slept in shifts, watching
over the students. "We tried to keep the kids
still to conserve their energy because food
was extremely scarce," he explains. "We were
feeding them half a slice of bread each at
meals, and the teachers were forgoing food
altogether."

Slowly, information trickled in and the
teachers received word from other local schools.
"Every single one of my students made it
through the disaster. Many of their families
were not so lucky," he says. "About a third of
the students have transferred to other schools
because they've had to move in with relatives.
I'll probably never see a lot of them again."

Eventually, all of the students were sent
home with family or community members, and
the teachers were able to search for their own
families. "It was incredible," Derector says. "We
were all basically stewing in our own uncertainty
and fear, but there was never any question that
we'd stay until each student was safe. It was our
duty to protect them."

With his duty done, Derector began
the long trek to Aomori, the northernmost
prefecture on Japan's largest island, where he
lived for 12 months as a high school exchange
student. "My host family in Aomori is my
second family, no question," he says. "I had to
make sure that they were okay."

Following tiny, mountain roads, Derector
made the day-long drive, slowly and carefully
while trying to conserve gas. "There were lots
of places where the road was impassable, and
I was driving on the sidewalk or through water,"
he says. "The scariest
part was driving along
the coast. I knew, at any
moment, another tsunami
might come along and
wipe out the road–and me
with it. But I made it to the
city alive and with only 20
km of gas to spare."

Miraculously, the
tsunamis had spared
Aomori. Assured of his
family's safety, Derector immediately went to
work at the Aomori Airport. "I was giving news
agencies and foreign aid workers directions,"
he says. "As an American and one of the only
people who'd made the drive from the epicenter,
I was the perfect person at the perfect time."

He planned to stay in Aomori until the end
of April, translating while living with his host
family, but he made a last minute decision to
get on a flight back to America. "My parents
were so worried about me, and I felt like I
needed to go home to give them peace of
mind," he says. "Coming home was one of the
hardest things I've ever done."

Back in New York, Derector spent several
weeks raising funds and awareness for his
friends in Japan. He spoke with news reporters,
appeared at fund raisers and lectured at
Columbia University. In mid-April, he came back
to HWS to appear on the Global Solidarity Panel
to talk about his experiences.

Together with current students and faculty
members, he spoke about the importance of
pledging support to Japan. "Since coming back
to America, I have been talking fairly regularly
with my fellow teachers. There's still no running
water, still no electricity," he said on April 19.
"Aid is just starting to make its way to my home
city. They're just starting to fix the roads. We
have to work together to help them."

In May, Derector obtained a new visa and
has returned to Ayukawahama where he is
living in his old apartment and assisting with
cleanup efforts. "This isn't about me; this is
about my community," he says. "That's where I
need to be."